Gladiator Blu-ray Sept 1, 09

[JJxiv1215]

Well, you chaps were right. As it is my favorite movie, I had to have it regardless, but the waxiness is there and noticeable. I thought it would be waxiness a-la Patton or Troy. But no. So much worse than it. Looks a bit better than the DVD. Damn you, Paramount.

[Gremal]

Grain and honor.

[Wolverine1980]

Originally Posted by Gremal

Grain and honor.

Sadly in this movie Commodus has neither. I crack myself up.

[dolphinc]

Originally Posted by JJxiv1215

Well, you chaps were right. As it is my favorite movie, I had to have it regardless, but the waxiness is there and noticeable. I thought it would be waxiness a-la Patton or Troy. But no. So much worse than it. Looks a bit better than the DVD. Damn you, Paramount.

I don't wear chaps, and don't call me Shirley.

[Gremal]

Originally Posted by Wolverine1980

Sadly in this movie Commodus has neither. I crack myself up.

heehee

[CJWilkie]

Originally Posted by Wolverine1980

Armor and weapons tend to look fake in HD anyway, it's worse when it really stands out though. They over-do the clang of swords hitting to hide the fact that they're wooden or rubber or plastic. Plus you can tell by the way people fling them around, you can't handle real swords like that, not to mention you WOULDN'T.

Can't wait for Lord of the Rings :P Some real, decent weaponry and swordsmanship in those films.

[JJxiv1215]

Suppose it could be worse, but it has its moments.

[bypass]

Originally Posted by doctorthodt

Sent this email to Paramount:

9/1/09
To whom it may concern,

Hi, I'm a huge fan of Paramount Pictures and was extremely excited to hear you were bringing Gladiator and Braveheart as the flagship titles to your new 'Sapphire Series' collection of Blu-Rays. In fact I was so excited that I went to Wal-Mart at midnight of the release date so I could get the Blu-Rays as soon as possible. When I got home I popped Gladiator into my Blu-Ray player and was very dismayed to find that the picture quality was extremely lacking. All of the detail was washed out - I felt that the picture quality was barely a step above an upscaled DVD. It was as if all the life had been sucked out of the film. At first I thought maybe there was something wrong with my Blu-Ray player, so I played Braveheart to see if the same thing happened. But the picture on Braveheart was GORGEOUS - very crisp and detailed. It was the opposite of Gladiator; as if new life had been breathed into the film.

So I'm wondering whether maybe I received a defective disc? I know something is wrong, because there's no way the picture is supposed to look like this. I would appreciate any light you could shed on this matter for me, and if I have in fact received a defective disc, I hope there's some way I can trade it in for a proper one.

Regards,
~

Nice, they need to be inundated by complaints, so they can promptly replace the shoddy release.

[TTUBatfan2008]

Has anyone else noticed that there's not enough room to put the DVD UPC where they tell you to put it on the rebate form?

[Wolverine1980]

Originally Posted by bypass

Nice, they need to be inundated by complaints, so they can promptly replace the shoddy release.

To whom it may concern -
I bought your blu-ray of Gladiator today, one of your flagship releases of the Sapphire series and I must say it was profoundly disappointing. Obvious DNR throughout the movie and the waxiness made everyone look like vampires. I hope you consider doing a better transfer that doesn't compromise the integrity of the movie and then giving people like me an exchange program to get it for free.
Just trying to help.

[Vicon]

Originally Posted by SBrooks1

Here's a good comparison

From the Theatrical Edition - http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...theatrical.jpg

From the Extended Edition - http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...r-extended.png

I'm guessing Paramount/Universal has the entire movie available somewhere that looks as good as these Extended Edition scenes seamlessly branched in do. Why wasn't it used as the Theatrical Edition?

First photo. Earring on the left (her right), it's right chain/dangling thing is different than all the others. Has smaller loops in the chain. Looks like the original went missing and they had to rig a replacement. Interesting. You would think they would have more than 1 pair?

[Deads3t]

Originally Posted by JJxiv1215

Well, you chaps were right. As it is my favorite movie, I had to have it regardless, but the waxiness is there and noticeable. I thought it would be waxiness a-la Patton or Troy. But no. So much worse than it. Looks a bit better than the DVD. Damn you, Paramount.

I just finished the paperwork to get my $10 back per blu-ray. I can live with it for 8 bucks.

[bdrex28]

I'm apparently in the minority but I thought it was good as a blu-ray. I'm not sure what everyone expected, but I was very satisfied.

[bypass]

Originally Posted by Deads3t

I just finished the paperwork to get my $10 back per blu-ray. I can live with it for 8 bucks.

Yes, but wouldn't it also be beneficial to file a complaint? I'm sure that a reissue will be warranted with enough complaints. Then, you get a reissued version that you only paid $8 for.

[surfdude12]

just watched it. i'd give PQ 2/5 and AQ 4.5/5.

overall, the PQ is BARELY above upscale DVD IMO. not by much. take opening battle sequence: so much smudge applied that it looked like 480i, then you see richard harris and he's at 1080...the inconsitency coupled with the DNR/EE is just bad.

however, i'm still happy with the purchase. why? because as a blu-ray nut, i'd probably pay up to $100-150 for Braveheart/Gladiator with great PQ/AQ (that's how much i value it. obviously more than average joe on the street), so paying $18 for an AQ upgrade isn't horrible to me.

[Deads3t]

Originally Posted by bypass

Yes, but wouldn't it also be beneficial to file a complaint? I'm sure that a reissue will be warranted with enough complaints. Then, you get a reissued version that you only paid $8 for.

When I watch it I'll make that call.

[bandit29]

Just got done watching it ...wow..somewhat underwhelming and disappointing. The opening battle scene and most of the scenes right after that don't look very good..They look smeared/smudged. I imagine this looks terrible on a screen bigger than mine (46" Samsung LCD). I thought the picture started to improve after he escapes.

The video throughout the movie is inconsistent. Not just with the extended cut scenes(they do look noticeably better). Some scenes look great and others look too clean and others look smeared. I give the video a 3. It should look better than this. Why didn't the use the transfer from the extended cut? Makes no sense...

Sound is really good. No major complaints there. I give it a 4. Sounds like your in the middle of a colosseum. Not much bottom end or at least with my setup. Or that's just the way the movie is.

Not worth the MSRP of 39.99 or the 29.99 it will be at BB next week. At least I got it for 17.00 along with Braveheart.

and that dude standing there in jeans lmao awesome

[gates70]

Any Canadians out there got this ? I got it today and watched many scenes and it looks great ! Wonder if we got a different transfer ? I watched it on my 120" screen too. People are also talking about a rebate form with the movie. Didn't get that either. Was that in the case ? Leads me to beleive that maybe we got a different batch or something.

[lobo81865]

Originally Posted by bdrex28

I'm apparently in the minority but I thought it was good as a blu-ray. I'm not sure what everyone expected, but I was very satisfied.

Same here. I bit the bullet, and bought it and Braveheart. Gladiator looks great to me.

[gates70]

Originally Posted by lobo81865

Same here. I bit the bullet, and bought it and Braveheart. Gladiator looks great to me.

Is it possible that there are bad batches ? Mine looks great also.